Wrench



1.1.. WALSH AND H. H. REIBER.

v wneucn. APPLICATION FILED JUNE 14, I920.

1,366,224. mm Jan. 18,1921.

UNITED STATES ,PATENT lorries;

JOHN L. WALSH AND HERBERT I- REIBER, or rrrrnnnnrrnm, PENNSYLVANIA.

wRENcm '10allv'wkomtmayconcern: 1

Be it known that we, JOHN L, WALSH and HERBERT H. Human, citizens of the United States, residing at Philadelphia, county oi Philadelphia, and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certainnew and useful Improvements in Wrenches, of which the following is a specification. j

Hoppers on freight cars, such for example as the inclined hoppers on the bottoms of coal cars, have their hinged bottom plates locked by means of" cables or chains which are wound on rotatably mounted shafts. These shafts have angular ends which pro ject slightly beyond the side of the car and have 'atchet Wheels secured thereon which are locked against rotation by pawls which are mounted on the side of the car. Theoretically if a wrench is applied to one of said shafts and turnedto permit release of the pawl, the bottomplate should immediately start to swing downward to release and allow the discharge of the load. Due to a number of causes, such for example as the jamming or freezing of the material, the bottom plates do not fall until after the shafts have been turned to slacken a c0nsiderable length of the chain or cable and then the bottom plates suddenly fall and the result is that the wrench isthrown from the hand of the workman or breaks his arm or otherwise seriously injures him.

One object of our invention isto provide an improved car hopper wrench which will facilitate the opening of car hoppers and at the same time will be so constructed as to prevent injury to the workman while at tempting to open the hoppers. I

Another object is to so construct our m1 proved wrench that it wlll permit of a good leverage so that the workman can con- Specification of Letters Patent. PatentedJ ,18 1921 hplilication filedllfune 14;, i i i it 1920.. Serial N 383,962. r

sitions which the freeswinging outer hooked versely across the recess: 5; said recess extending entirely through the head lf It will be noted that as shown in Fig; 2 theend surfaces 8 will abut the surface ll of the head jaw .9 when the hand-lever is swung intothe positions shown at a: and y in Fig. 2. The upper oi'outer surface12 of the head jaw 9 includes transversely extending ribbed teeth 13 ;Q-saidteethbeing "arranged in an are which leads upwardly from the portion. 14.- adjacent one of the furcations 6. The portion- 15 opposite the part 14: has a notch 16; the inner side thereof being substantially parallel and the innermost surface 17 as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1 extends at a slantfrom the surface 11 to the surface 12 so that certain of the uppermost teeth 13 are discontinued in their width by the notch 16 as clearlyshown in Fig. 2. A pivot pin 17 extends through the part 15 across the notch 16 and a free swinging outer hooked jaw 18 has an arm 19 which fits within the notch 16 and has a pivot hole through which the pivot pin 17 extends. Thus the outer free jaw 18 is free to swing in a plane substantially at right angles to the plane in which the jaw 19 swings. The hooked jaw 8 has a row of transversely ribbed teeth 20 on the under surface of its hooked end 21; said teeth 20 being opposed to the teeth 13 of the head jaw 9 so thatthe wrench can be used to present the opposed teeth 13 and 20 to the angular portion of a hopper shaft to cause the rotation of the latter.

In the use ofour improved wrench it is immaterial from which side of the shaft the wrench is appliedsince the hand-lever can be swung in eitherdirection so as to present a good leverage for the workman at a position away from any projections such as ribs, bolts or the-like on the side of the car. During the use of the wrench if the bottom plates should not immediately open,

such for example as under the conditions mentioned in the foregoing objects of the vinvention and should suddenly fall after the operatingshaft has been slackened the resulting action, instead of throwing the Wrench to cause'in ury to the workman,

,Will merely throw the free outer hooked s shaft. In actual practice it has been found that when the bottom plate suddenly falls the action of 'the angular portion of the shaft Will merely throw or swing the jaw 18 on the pivot pin 17 and the hand-lever will remain'in 'the hands of the workman without in any way injuring him or causing discomfort. 1 i r It will be noted that the teeth 20 are shaped sothat one side of theintermejdiate teeth are longer and at agreater slant than the opposite sides This shaping of the teeth 20 provides an'immediate release from the angular portionof the shaft and at the same timegood biting'portions are provided for engagement with the shaft during. the rotation of'the same.

While we have described our invention as taking aparti'cular form it will be understood that the various pajrtsjof our invention may be changed without departing from'the'spirit thereof, and hence we do not limit ourselves to the precise construction set forth, but consider that we are at liberty to make such changes and alterations as fairly come within the scope of the appended claim.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is A hopper bottom releasing wrench of the character described including a head jaw; an elongated hand lever pivotally connected at one end to the head jaw and adapted to swing laterally with respect to said jaw, said jaw having an edge surface opposed to said end of the hand lever and including a row of teeth arranged in a convex are; a second jaw; and a pivot pin pivotally con necting said jaws, said second jaw having a row'of teeth adapted to swing on said pivot pin as an axis in an arc toward and from said teeth of the head jaw; substantially as described.

In testimony whereof we have signed our names to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JOHN L. \VALSl-l. HERBERT H. REIBER. Witnesses:

CHAS. E. Porrs. ELIZABETH GARBE. 

